THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS

OF A MUSIC VIDEO

• Low angle shots are predominantly used in Hip-hop music videos.

• Excessive amount of close ups and extreme close ups.• Often a crowd or a group of people who move in time with

the music or act as hype men to the artists.• A lot of materialistic objects that reflect a sense of wealth

amongst the artists, such as, cars, chains, gold etc.• A undertone of Voyeurism. • Many music videos reflect the culture of their country as

well as often mocking it, and conforming to the stereotypes society has on them.

• There is direct contact with the camera.• Comfortable and casual clothing, glamorized via the use of

accessories.

WAYS IN WHICH OUR MUSIC VIDEO

FOLLOWED THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS

CLOTHING/COSTUME• Although in terms of the costume for our artists we avoided the

use of symbols reflecting money and materialistic possessions. We maintained the casual clothing, as we believed this portrayed our artists as quiet genuine, and therefore more relatable to our target audience. Especially due to them being young, they are incapable of affording all the new gold bling. However, by having our artists stripped of their accessories they give off a positive message to their target audience. This being that regardless their economic situation they can do whatever they desire.

• We in fact let our artists decide what they would like to wear as our main focus was to emphasize the positive vibe they reflect as well as to enable our target audience to know the real style and personality of our artists, allowing them to develop a bond between the two, increasing the artists credibility.

USE OF CLOSE UPS• Although in comparison to other music videos our video does not use an

excessive amount of close ups, we chose to include quiet a few close ups and some extreme close ups. The reason for this is due to the fact that close ups make the footage more personal, allowing the target audience to familiarize themselves with the artist. The use of these close ups also allows our artists to establish themselves, highlighting their importance, power and dynamic within the rap group, as they take up the space within the frame, suggesting they are powerful.

• The reason we did not want an excessive amount of close ups and extreme close ups is due to the natural feel we wanted to achieve with our music video, we wanted the video to clearly portray the lifestyles of our artists, due to this we used a variety of camera shots in order to provide our audience with a variety of perspectives, rather than just continuous close ups. As a group we also felt that a mass amount of close ups would limit the energy of our artists, as they are always on the move, especially in a busy city like London, and the use of close ups would restrict the amount of body movement that could be displayed.

COMMUNICATING CULTURE• Our music video and the artists within it themselves don’t

necessarily reflect the culture within the UK or mock it, however, they do effectively portray the youth culture of the current generations. We chose to do this in order to broaden our target audience and lead to an increase in the buzz generated around our music video, therefore being a very useful marketing technique. The music video suggests that the youth of the 21st century, particularly in London, enjoy creativity and relaxing/exploring the hidden treasures of their city with their friends.

• We did not intend on mocking the culture, as due to them being new artists it isn't an appropriate approach to take. Although, some satire/ rebellious music videos have appeared to be highly successful, such as, Christina Aguilera’s ‘Can’t Hold Us Down’. However, this was due to her already existing fan base and support. It would limit our target audiences in terms of who the music video would appeal to. In addition, mocking the culture would decrease the credibility of our artists as well as subverting the genuine, positive people that they are.

WAYS IN WHICH OUR MUSIC VIDEO CHALLENGED

THECODES AND CONVENTIONS

VOYEURISM

• This is a very common convention of Hip-Hop music videos, in particular for male artists. For example, 50 cent’s ‘Candy shop’ is a very popular music video that possesses many voyeuristic features. As a group we chose to avoid a sense of voyeurism within our music video due to the fact the track used was not a generic Hip-hop trap, it was quiet funky, due to this we decided that a use of women as sexual objects etc. would not be appropriate to the relaxed and innocent feel the song possesses.

• Due to our target audience being young, the use of voyeurism can be considered very inappropriate. As a group we also decided to target both male and female target audiences, therefore, the use of female voyeurism could in fact cause the female audience to not be as intrigued and interested in the music video, causing this to not be a very effective marketing technique amongst our target audience.

• However, this would be beneficial for us to use in order to engage our male target audience, as stereotypically this is an aspect that appeals to them, however, from our research and planning we found that they are more interested in the creative aspects of a music video as well as the personalities of the artists themselves.

GROUP OF PEOPLE• Instead of using a group of people to develop the energy

within our music video and maintain the high level of energy we decided to use a hype man, this person being a friend of the artists. We decided to do this in order t reflect the dynamics of our artists with different people as this portrays them as quiet genuine. This is a beneficial marketing technique as it enables our target audience to build a relationship with our artists, causing them to feel more inclined to watch the music video

• The portrayal of our artists as genuine and friendly causes them to be relatable to our target audience, therefore, leading to an increase in the music video and artists credibility.

• We did not want to use a group of people as it would increase the energy and tempo of the music video drastically, causing it to no longer possess the relaxed and joyful feel we are trying to reflect.

PROPS• In terms of the use of props within our music video we

challenged the codes and conventions of a typical Hip Hop music video, we chose to not include materialistic objects that reflect a sense of wealth and economic power, as this is quiet unrealistic for the age group of our artists. In addition our target audience are young adults, therefore, an excessive sense of wealth would not allow them to effectively relate to our artists, making this an inappropriate marketing technique to use for our artists and the video itself.

• Also, if we intend to portray our artists as genuine, not including luxurious accessories and props is effective, as they wont be seen as materialistic.

• However, there would be a benefit behind us using these, as wealth is appealing to young adults and therefore could perhaps attract the audience, increasing the buzz generated around our artists and the music video.

EXAMPLESJoey Badass- Like water

• In terms of costume it is clear that we followed the codes and conventions, as very similar urban and laid back outfits can be seen in Joey Badass’ music video for ‘Like Water’. This allows the artists to be comfortable and themselves in the music video, allowing audiences to familiarize themselves well with the artists.

Grillz- Nelly• We avoided the use of

voyeurism and flashy and expensive props as we felt this would limit our target audience. As voyeurism is more appealing to men, and power through money is not realistic for our young target audience.